Bedford Township Names Joe Gore Deputy Of The Year

For a whole 365 days he’ll be teased and tormented by his fellow sheriff’s deputies working out of the Bedford Township Substation.

It’s a well-known fact that jokes come with the honor of being named Bedford Township’s Deputy of Year. He even admits to dishing out a few one-liners himself in the past when others have carried the title. Now that it’s his turn, he’s sure he can handle it.

“I’m hit for the next year. It will subside for a little bit, but you’ve got to have a thick skin around here,” he said with a laugh, looking around the deputies’ shared office space at the substation. “But I’ve dished it out plenty of times.”

He’d be more worried if they weren’t mocking him.

“If they aren’t messing with you, it probably means they don’t like you. So as long as they are pushing your buttons in some way, you’re in good shape.”

Deputy Gore, 44, has been in law enforcement for 21 years, but his career in uniform stretches farther back.

He served in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from Monroe High School and was deployed to the Middle East with the infantry during the first Gulf War, earning a Combat Action Ribbon. After returning to the United States, he was stationed in Los Angeles and served alongside the California National Guard during the 1992 race riots. He was honorably discharged later that same year and took a position with the Linn County Sheriff’s Office in the state of Oregon.

He lived and worked in Oregon from 1993 to 1997. During that time, he earned his associate’s degree in Industrial Technology and Law Enforcement from Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore.

He returned to Michigan in 1997 and has been working for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office ever since.

In the last year alone, Deputy Gore sent out nearly 40 requests for prosecution for crimes ranging from drunken driving to home invasions and wrote 337 police reports, tying for second highest in the department, Det. Sgt. Jeff Pauli said. He has taken the lead on numerous cases over the years, rather than allowing them to pass over to a detective. In the summer of 2013, he spent weeks investigating a home invasion and armed robbery where two suspects attacked the homeowner, breaking glass jars over his head. Det. Sgt. Pauli said Deputy Gore pieced the case together, leading to the arrest of two individuals and the impending arrest of a third. The case is currently in the Monroe County courts.

“Under most circumstances, a case like this is typically turned over to the detectives to investigate,” Det. Sgt. Pauli said.

“Investigations are (usually straightforward),” Deputy Gore said. “But, sometimes, you may start with nothing, maybe the name of one person and you put all the pieces together by yourself — you do search warrants, photo-lineups. It actually can be fun. In June (when this case started), I had absolutely nothing to go on, and now we have two people in custody and a warrant out of the third. Piecing all of it together is interesting.”

“Every day is different and no day is the same,” he said. “I’m not in a cubicle pushing a computer. I have no idea what is going to happen during the day. One minute it will be quiet and the next minute everything will change.”

But going above and beyond the call of duty comes so naturally to him.

In addition to his work as a police officer, Deputy Gore serves as secretary on the Bedford Public Schools Board of Education — the school district that all of his children have passed or will pass through.

“I enjoy it and I’ve learned a lot,” he said of his school board tenure. “I don’t like everything we’ve had to do or the cuts and the decisions we’ve had to make. But I didn’t know I’d like it as much as have.”

Deputy Gore and his wife, Kellie, met while they were students at Monroe High School. They never dated when they were young — “She hated me,” Deputy Gore joked — but reconnected later in life and have been married for 23 years. When they moved back to Michigan from Oregon in 1997, they decided to come to Bedford Township for the schools.

His children, he said, were the main reason he decided to run for a school board position for the first time in 2007.

There are nine in all: Caitlyn, Zach, Meghan, Brandon, Ryan, Connor, Cory, Bryce and Blake. Two girls and seven boys. The two oldest already have graduated from Bedford. Four are enrolled in the school system and three are still waiting to grace the district’s halls.

“I’ve always believed in getting involved,” Deputy Gore said. “Instead of sitting back and complaining about something (the schools had done), I decided to get involved and I think parents need to be involved with their kids’ education somehow.”

He spends his free time with his family and has coached robotics and sports teams in the past.

The large number of children can be hectic at times, he said, and their home is always loud. But he and Mrs. Gore run their home as a team, working together to overcome every obstacle.

It’s a similar situation back in the substation.

“We’re a team here,” Deputy Gore said of his fellow officers.

“I’m honored to be named Deputy of the Year, but any of these guys are just as deserving. We all work together.”